US President Joe Biden signed a decree reviewing a number of documents related to the September 11, 2001 attacks for possible declassification.

“Today I signed a decree instructing the Ministry of Justice and other relevant departments to monitor the analysis of documents related to the FBI investigations into the September 11 attacks, for their subsequent declassification.

The decree obliges the attorney general to release the declassified documents within the next six months, ”Biden said in a statement posted on the White House website.

As noted in the decree, after such a review, the US attorney general will have to bring its results to the attention of the president and the congressional intelligence committees.

“While the indiscriminate release of classified information can threaten national security, including the efforts of the US government to defend against future terrorist attacks, information should not be kept classified when the importance of disclosing it in the public interest outweighs any damage to national security that may be we reasonably expect later, ”the document says.

It also clarifies that the data can remain classified only if they still require protection "in the interests of national security" and there is reason to believe that the US national security will suffer as a result of their disclosure.

  • September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States

  • Reuters

  • © Sean Adair SV

Recall that on September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked passenger planes and sent them to civilian and military targets in the United States.

The largest in terms of the number of victims was the attack on the World Trade Center in New York - as a result of it, about 3 thousand people were killed.

US intelligence agencies blamed al-Qaeda * and its leader Osama bin Laden, who was eliminated by the US military in 2011, for the attacks.

Political background

It is worth noting that it was after the September 11 attacks that the United States sent troops to Afghanistan to conduct a counter-terrorism mission.

After almost 20 years of stay of the American contingent in the Islamic Republic, Washington decided to withdraw it. The hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan contributed to the destabilization of the situation in the country. The confrontation between the radical Taliban ** and government forces has escalated. As a result, in August the Taliban took control of almost the entire territory of Afghanistan, including Kabul.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on September 3, the Taliban control "practically the entire territory of Afghanistan, with the exception of Panjshir" and small territories adjacent to Tajikistan.

At the same time, the Russian leader urged not to forget that the United States sent troops into Afghanistan "after the attack on the United States itself, after the brutal terrorist attacks on the international trade center in New York."

“It was no accident that I remembered that the United States brought in troops after the terrorist attacks on New York.

And the Taliban movement itself is not homogeneous, although it mainly consists of Pashtun tribes, ”Putin said.

“Today there are many representatives of other organizations on the territory of Afghanistan, including the extreme ones - ISIS *** and so on.”

The President of Russia also noted that in the Islamic republic a large number of people, "with radical elements", have been released from prisons.

“The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan **** is there, and what is not there, on the territory of today's Afghanistan — and all this threatens our allies and neighbors.

And if you keep in mind that we have no visa restrictions and free movement actually across borders, this is very important for us, for Russia, from the point of view of ensuring our security, ”he explained.

At the same time, the United States also admits that after a 20-year operation in Afghanistan, the American side did not manage to rid the republic of terrorist groups.

As Joe Biden stated on August 31, Washington has not yet finished dealing with IS.

He added that the threat of terrorism has changed and spread throughout the world far beyond Afghanistan.

At the same time, as reported by the NBC channel with reference to sources, out of 30 thousand people taken from Afghanistan to the United States, about 100 were suspected of having links with terrorist organizations.

However, after additional checks, only two of them raised serious concerns, however, their connection with the radicals has not yet been finally confirmed.

  • Kabul

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  • © Stringer

They fear a wave of terror due to the situation in Afghanistan and Europe.

According to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, the European Union intends to launch a regional political platform under the auspices of the European External Action Service, aimed, among other things, at "preventing the spread of terrorism."

The initiative also concerns “managing the flow of people from Afghanistan”, the fight against organized crime, including drug trafficking and the illegal movement of people.

"Ground for terrorist attacks"

Experts interviewed by RT believe that the possible declassification of some of the documents related to the September 11, 2001 attacks is an attempt by Washington to shift the focus from the failed 20-year operation in Afghanistan.

“In American society and the media, parallels are often drawn between the events of September 11, 2001 and the August terrorist attacks in Kabul, when 13 American soldiers were killed and another 20 were injured.

Washington realizes that such comparisons are extremely bad for Biden's reputation.

And in order to somehow change the agenda, to switch public attention, Washington resorts to the old proven method - to decipher the supposedly secret documents containing some new circumstances of the tragedy, to which ordinary Americans have a lot of questions, "RT explained in a comment political scientist Alexander Asafov.

According to him, the White House expects that the declassification of certain documents about the events of September 11 "will reduce the negative that exists in American society due to the hasty and ill-considered withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan."

“This is actually the defeat of the Americans, the failure of this operation, which was initially positioned as a fight against terrorism.

But after 20 years, Washington has failed to defeat the terrorist groups in Afghanistan.

Moreover, they have spread all over the world.

Now the American authorities hope for a sensational effect around the declassified documents of the September 11 attacks, but this is unlikely to somehow improve Biden's reputation, ”Asafov said.

Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, has a similar opinion.

He is sure that it was not by chance that the US administration decided to declassify the documents about the September 11 attacks just when Biden was "hit by a wave of criticism for the shameful flight of Americans from Afghanistan."

“This point is used by his opponents from the Republican Party as a battering ram to destroy the authority of the Democratic Party, including calling for the impeachment of Biden.

The head of the White House is now trying to reduce the intensity of criticism, shift the focus of attention and change the agenda, "he said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, analysts agree that the situation that has arisen in Afghanistan due to the hasty withdrawal of American troops may more than once become the focus of media attention, including due to possible new terrorist attacks.

  • The White house

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  • © Cheriss May / File

As Asafov explained, against the background of the seizure of power by the Taliban in the Islamic republic, other terrorist organizations in this country also "perked up."

"They now think that if the Taliban succeeded, they can do it too," the analyst said.

According to Shapovalov, the world may soon face a new wave of terrorist attacks.

“Moreover, they can be organized both in the United States and in Europe, since the chaos that broke out through the fault of the Americans in Afghanistan only contributed to the fact that terrorists could infiltrate the EU countries and the United States.

After all, neither the Americans nor the Europeans, in the conditions of a panicky flight, could thoroughly check all refugees for the fact of their possible connections with terrorist organizations.

And all this, like the already begun migration crisis near the EU borders, is a suitable ground for terrorist attacks, ”Shapovalov concluded.

* "Al-Qaeda" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 02/14/2003.

** "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.14.2003.

*** "Islamic State" (IS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.

**** "Islamic Party of Turkestan" (formerly "Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan") - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.14.2003.